Last year it reduced net debt by £30.4m to £216.4m, and said it was on target to meet its target of having a debt to underlying EBITDA ratio of less than 1.5 times by the end of 2014.

The company, which also has a presence in California, is also benefiting from its online investment, which has been particularly beneficial for its used cars operations.

Online visitors to its Stratstone.com, Evanshalshaw.com and Quicks.co.uk rose 18pc last year, and have risen 87pc over the past three years. Pendragon believes its online channels are a key differentiator for its performance.

Certainly its scale means it can more easily justify heavier spending on more sophisticated internet platforms than smaller rivals, while advertising and marketing costs also tend to be more efficient at the same time, boosting aftermarket as well as vehicle sales.

Pendragon, along with other major dealership groups, is gaining market share largely at the expense of independent dealerships.

Britain’s car market outperformed the rest of Europe in 2012 with growth in volumes of new cars of 5.3pc to 2.045m, placing the UK only second to Germany as Europe’s largest car market and outperforming the economy as a whole which was flat last year.

There is every reason to suggest that trend will continue in the near term. UK trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is forecasting registrations will grow by 0.6pc this year to 2.057m vehicles, and by 2.6m to 2.11m vehicles in 2014.

Given 2013 got off to a strong start, with registrations up 11.5pc in January - traditionally the third strongest month - the forecast for this year could well prove conservative, although it is still early days and the economic backdrop remains weak.